Koriner contenders look sharp in allowances

A pair of fillies recently compromised by circumstances benefit from conditions that are more favorable in two allowance races Friday at Del Mar – Steph Being Steph in race 4, and Kodiak West in race 7.

Steph Being Steph returns to preferred footing, dirt, after a failed turf experiment.

“She hated the grass,” trainer Brian Koriner said. “It was a test, [Stewart] Elliott sent her hard, and she just said, [expletive].”

A stakes winner on synthetic, Grade 2-placed on dirt, and proven at Del Mar, Steph Being Steph faces six rivals in the second-level sprint. Her chief rivals are trained by Peter Miller – program favorite Kelly’s Humor, a Grade 1-placed filly making her California debut, and likely pacesetter Dominating Woman.

Kodiak West returns to the turf course where her summertime U.S. debut ended in frustration. Kodiak West was blocked from the far turn to deep stretch and finished seventh by three lengths. Trainer Neil Drysdale laughed when asked if she could have won with a different trip.

“That’s a loaded question,” he said, smiling. “I’m not going to comment.”

It has been three months since Kodiak West ran in the mile race, sufficient time to prepare for her second U.S. start.

“She ran right off the plane, and that kind of knocks them down a bit,” Drysdale said. “I’m hoping she’ll develop into a distance filly. The farther, the better.”

The 1 1/8-mile turf race Friday, a first-level allowance for 3-year-old fillies, attracted eight runners, including upset candidate Nice Ice. Runnerup two back at the entry-level allowance condition, Nice Ice is from the same hot stable as race 4 contender Steph Being Steph.

Koriner has won five of the last seven races in which he had a runner, and he believes Nice Ice had an alibi for finishing last in her most recent start Sept. 2. It was her third start of the seven-week Del Mar meet. It was one start too many.

“It was her third trip at Del Mar, we tried to sneak in three, and you can’t do it,” Koriner said. “Very seldom can you do it. She’s not a filly that keeps a lot of weight on, so we just freshened her up.”

Nice Ice figures for a forwardly placed trip in the first 1 1/8-mile race of the autumn meet. Others in the field include Stradella Road, Retro, and K P Pergoliscious.

The Friday allowance is six weeks in front of the Grade 1 American Oaks on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita, and though the class hike would be severe, it would not be unprecedented. When the American Oaks was run during the summer meet at Hollywood Park, Harmonious and Nereid won the 2010 and 2011 editions after first-level allowance wins in their previous start.